Hi Team!
I'm looking for a blank clock template...something I can use to help visually explain spot placement and programming elements. I remember seeing one broken down by minute.....but I'd take anything I can get. Anyone have one they wouldn't mind sending along? It would help extremely helpful.
Thanks!
It's a little bizarre that you would feel the need to share this kind of information in this detail in print to clients. Does your station guarantee specific hours and what stop sets within hours to air client commercials? Then what is the purpose of the traffic system. Clients are supposed to have the expertise in their business, you're supposed to have the expertise in radio. This kind of minutiae is purely a distraction. Why is list of programs/personalities with the hours they air not sufficient? Or a simple explanation of the standardized day parts - AMD, PMD, MID - not adequate? Clients buy (a) your expertise, (b) formats, (c) scheduling within those formats, The equivalent is you asking to see the shipping receipts for what you buy at the grocery store.
If this is just for your own information, your program director has and operates with such a clock.
Diane...it's not for clients. It's for the Sales Department. Left that out. Sorry.
Melinda
We are a broker station and show all of our clients (those who purchase blocks of time) a clock for their hour, and they in turn use it for their sponsors to show them approximately where their ad will run in the hour. It's not that strange of a request. I use the Broadcast Clock Creator from DLD media. You can find it here http://www.downloadroute.com/The-Broadcast-Clock-Creator-DLD-Media.html or do a google search for broadcast clock creator. Hope this helps.
Oh, ok. Still would talk with your PD - logs are all set up on a clock, satellite fed or not. This would save you time and duplication. Still seems like a lot of irrelevant detail even for sales, tho. Your PD or traffic person could just give sales a total number of avails or minutes per show or daypart. How would you use this information?
So block time - I assume most of it is per-inquiry - is handled by your local sales people?
I work for a Christian talk station and its local and national ministries and churches, with a few satellite programs, NOT PI's, and because it's live and local for the most part my board operators, myself, and the sales guy all work with the clients. So while the initial "buy" may be handled by the sales people the board ops, and myself (I am the business Manager) work one on one with the clients and they need to know how to read a clock to set up their shows. We do a basic "radio 101" with these folks. They don't get the nuts and bolts of the programming, satellites, or spot placement in the network hours ect. You just cant give a blanket "you don't need that" answer as radio is not as simple as music and spot avails in every market. What works for your market, Diane, may be decidedly different than what works in Melinda's market. And truthfully the more your sales guys know the better they can sell. I for one get extremely frustrated by sales guys or gals who have no radio experience and don't bother to learn about it either. yes their job is sales but them knowing how things work behind the scenes means they sell better for me and sound more knowledgeable to their potential clients. Radio can't remain the "pay no attention to the man behind the board" emerald city anymore and remain competetive, at least in my opinion.
Didn't mean to offend you, Jodi. And hope you did not mean to offend me either. Melinda's question was not within a context. She clarified that.
The majority of radio broadcast stations are not broker stations. The vast majority of radio airtime sold is not block time. Those in programming work with broadcast clocks. Those in direct local sales (only) do not and an intimate knowledge of the clocks and other programming-specific intricacies is highly unlikely to enhance the ability to perform in direct local sales. Something like you don't have to know how a watch works to tell time. That's always been the rub!
